Easy focaccia bread recipe | Jamie Oliver bread recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the best flour for focaccia? ›

Flour - I used a mixture of bread flour and All-purpose flour (high grade or strong and plain if you're not in the US). Bread flour is slightly higher in protein than All-purpose, so gives the focaccia just a little more chew. I love the mix of both, but just AP flour works just fine too!

Why is my focaccia not fluffy or chewy? It could be the type of flour you used. The best flour to use to make focaccia bread is bread flour which gives you fluffy baked bread. Or, it could also be because you did not knead the dough enough for the gluten to form a structure which can result in flat or dense bread.

Now, focaccia uses plenty of olive oil, not only in the dough, but for kneading, proofing, in the baking pan, and on the bread's surface before baking. All this fat means the texture is light, moist and springy, the crust emerges golden and crisp, plus the center stays soft for days afterwards.

Focaccia is a type of Italian bread made with yeast and a strong, high-gluten flour (like bread flour) and baked in flat sheet pans. Unlike pizza dough, it's left to rise after being rolled out before going in the oven.

The thickness of a focaccia can vary, too, but an authentic focaccia genovese should be rather thin, even if it needn't be quite as thin as my version presented here. So many non-Italian renditions of “focaccia” are more like bread in their thickness.

It's an important step: When the dough is punched down, the yeast cells are redistributed. They form a closer bond with the moisture and sugar, which aids fermentation and improves the second rise.

Olive oil: Makes focaccia taste delicious, adding to its texture and flavor. The secret to the best focaccia bread is using a great olive oil.

The longer you allow the dough to rise, the more air and spongy the bread will be. Overnight Dough: Proofing the dough for 9-14 hours overnight in the fridge is my preferred method, because of the slower fermentation. This process yields a better focaccia texture and taste.

Dimpling (aka poking holes) in focaccia helps to release gas and air, which helps your focaccia to maintain its signature flat look. At the same time, olive oil that's drizzled onto the foccacia is able to infuse into the dough for a truly wonderful flavour!

Like croissants and brioche buns, focaccia is high in calories and fat. Most people aren't aware of it, but it contains a lot of olive oil, which in excess has the same effect. To lose weight, people should choose whole-grain or rye bread, which has more fibre and is lower in fat and calories.

Why is focaccia expensive? ›

So why does it tend to be more expensive to purchase? Friends who have worked in the restaurant industry had some thoughts: Focaccia requires a lot of olive oil, which is pricey (though some other breads call for butter and eggs, which pencil out to more in my own Kirkland-brand-olive-oil kitchen).

Focaccia (pronounced fo-kah-cha) is a flat bread similar to pizza dough that can be either sweet or savory.

This is because the higher protein content of bread flour will help you create the high rise and rustic crust of an artisan style loaf. If, however, you're looking to bake a super soft brioche, you'll need to use a bread flour in the lower protein range.

While bread flour is the best option, it can sometimes be used if you don't have bread flour. “Check the protein content,” advises Chef Jürgen, since it can vary from brand to brand, and an all-purpose flour that contains protein on the higher end of the range, 12 to 13 percent, will produce a better outcome.

For best results, base your yeast dough on wheat flour — only wheat-based flour provides the type and amount of protein yeast dough needs to support its structure. Whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour, bread flour, or all-purpose flour are all good choices.